#8 The Archer and her Wolf

Xaiver

I realized I was still leaning against the desk when the Alphas looked towards me. I cleared my throat and stood up, straightening my shirt.

“Have a seat, Alpha Xaiver.” Alpha Hunter said, motioning towards the chair I had been sitting in before. We all sat again.

“I’m sorry about Thea’s outburst.” Hunter sighed, earning him a glare from Archer.

“Don’t apologize for our daughter. She had every right to be upset about his univinted appearance.” Archer snapped.

I suddenly felt nervous. Not only was I going to have to face two Alphas who were also the fathers of my mate, but I was going to have to convince them of my intentions when they didn’t even see eye to eye with each other.

“I guess I should apologize for my twin’s behavior as well.” Hunter grumbled, “It’s complicated, Alpha Xaiver.”

“Please, just call me Xaiver. I understand that it’s complicated. The only reason Thea ended up in my life was because she saved my son’s life while out on one of her missions. I know that her life isn’t conventional.” I said.

“Your son?” Archer looked even more pissed at me.

“It’s a long story.” I sighed.

“We’ve got time.” Hunter added.

“I made a mistake with a woman who wasn’t my mate. She got pregnant and had my son. I told her that I wasn’t interested in a chosen mate and that she wouldn’t be my Luna. I promised to provide for her and give her a life of luxury as well as raising our son together, but she just wanted to be the Luna. So, she abandoned our son when he was a few hours old and left my pack.” I explained in an emotionless tone. Archer and Hunter exchanged a look before nodding in unison.

“We’ve all made mistakes. I’m sorry you were left to raise your son alone.” Hunter’s expression softened. Archer said nothing.

“It’s alright, he’s my greatest blessing. My son is only three, and he’s always been quiet and reserved. He doesn’t like strangers and he doesn’t trust anyone other than my Beta, Beta female, Gamma, and Gamma female. But, the moment Thea walked into our lives, my son fell in love with her. That’s how I know she’s a good, kind hearted person, despite how hard she tries to hide it.” I replied openly.

I knew that in order to earn their trust and their favor, I had to be raw and open with the Alpha fathers. They exchanged another look and had another silent conversation. Man, what I wouldn’t give to be able to mindlink them right now.

“I’m happy to know that you see that side of our daughter. She has closed herself off to it for so many years. Thea has always been a strong, passionate woman with a drive to do good. She’s our first daughter, she was supposed to be our princess, but she pushed away any sight of pink or tieras. All she ever wanted to do was fight. She spent more time in the Warrior pack then here.” Hunter explained.

“She wanted to train to be a warrior, so I sent her to my old pack in Maine to train. About a year later, she got the attention of the Archer scouts posted in the Warrior pack. The head of the closest Archer’s base came out to see her and picked her up immediately. She wasn’t even 16 by the time she was initiated into the Archer’s program. She stayed in the Warrior pack to train until her 17th birthday, when she went to the Archer’s Base to live officially.” Archer continued.

“It terrified her mother and me, especially since she didn’t have a wolf. We sensed it from the moment she was born, we didn’t need to wait for her to turn 18 to confirm it. Archer was 15 when his wolf surfaced and he first went feral, that’s why he went to the Warrior pack. Even though she didn’t have a wolf, Thea wanted to follow in his footsteps. Archer was never afraid, he understands that life more than we do.” Hunter added.

“I can’t imagine all the things that she’s gone through to become so strong and brave. Obviously she has an amazing support system. I tried to explain to Thea that I didn’t want to change her. I understand that being an Archer is a part of her life and she isn’t ready to give that up, yet. I just ask that she gives us a chance for a future.” I said.

“You don’t understand. Being an Archer isn’t a part of her life, it is her life. It’s who she is.” Archer said but Hunter stopped him before he could say more.

“No, Archer, you know that’s not how it’s supposed to be. You pushed her towards that life, you made her think that choosing anything else over it is weakness. Even Effie says that being an Archer shouldn’t be her only goal in life, it shouldn’t be her whole life. You’re the reason she wants to reject her mate.” Hunter spat at his brother. Archer stood from his chair and growled,

“She made the choice to reject her mate.”

“Yeah, when she was ten years old!” Hunter yelled back.

“What?” I injected, knowing damn well that I might get my head ripped off for interrupting them.

“Thea has been hell bent on rejecting her mate since she learned what a mate was. She told us that she would reject him when she was barely ten years old.” Hunter explained to me without taking his eyes off of Archer.

“You’re fighting a losing battle, kid. Thea knows what she wants.” Archer glared at me.

“Because it’s what she wants or because it’s what you told her to want?” The words were out of my mouth before I even knew what I was saying.

Hunter’s head snapped towards me and his eyes were huge. Archer stood up straight and, if looks could kill, I’d be dead.

“Enough. Xaiver, come here.” Thea burst into the room again then with Luna Maizey hot on her heels.

“Archer, sit down.” Luna Maizey glared at her mate and he did what he was told. Man, these boys were whipped by their Luna.

“I want to be, too.” Cain whimpered in my head, speaking for the first time today.

“Xaiver.” Thea said my name again and I followed after her blindly, realizing that I was already whipped by her, “Do you have a death wish?” She asked once we were out in the hall. She was still walking quickly and I was nearly running to keep up.

“What do you mean?” I asked her.

“Speaking to my Papa like that.” She clarified.

I followed her up the steps and into a room. She sat down on the edge of a bed and I realized that I must’ve been in her childhood bedroom. I looked around but the sound of my mate clearing her throat focused my attention back on her.

“I didn’t mean to offend him or you. I’m sorry, Thea, but it sounds like you’re letting him make all the decisions for you.” I sighed, walking over towards her.

“And you sound like my dad.” She said, referring to Hunter. I flinched at the comparison.

I needed to make her see me as me, as someone who adored her. I dropped to my knees in front of her and she gasped in surprise. I placed my hands on her knees and forced her to look at me.

“I see the light inside of you, Thea. I know that you’re afraid to let it in and to feel things again, I get it. I don’t know what hurt you, but I’ve been hurt before, too, and it makes it hard for me to trust again. But, I do trust you. Maybe it’s the matebond talking, but I don’t care, I love you. I want you. I need you. I’ll do whatever you need me to do, anything other than leaving you, to make this work. Just name it.” I was on my knees, begging my beautiful mate to let me love her.

Something flashed in her eyes and I could tell her walls were shaking, threatening to fall down. She took a deep breath and held it, like she was trying to regain her composure. I knew I was close to convincing her to be mine. It was now or never.

I stood up and pressed myself against her, crashing my lips on top of hers. She froze at first, completely unmoving, and I was afraid that I had gone too far. Just as I was about to pull away, she came to life under me. She wrapped her arms around my neck and her legs around my waist, pulling me backwards. She ended up flat on the bed with me hovering over top of her. She ran her hands up to my head and tangled her fingers in my hair, gently tugging at it and enlisting a soft growl from me. I ran my hands down her body, feeling everything that I could.

She broke away, breathless, and I took the opportunity to explore her neck with my mouth, lingering on her marking spot and making her gasp. I returned to her face, giving her mouth one quick, soft kiss before moving back to admire my mate. I moved my hands up to her face and caressed her cheeks with my thumb while she caught her breath.

“Does this mean you’ll give me a chance?” I dared to ask.

“This isn’t going to end well.” She stated.

“There’s only one way to find out.” I smirked and I actually caught her blushing.

“I have some personal time saved up. I can take a few weeks, maybe a month or two, off.” She admits, “Unless an emergency comes up and they need me.” She added sternly.

“I won’t stop you, I promise.” I assured her, failing at holding back a huge grin. “Will you stay with me at the packhouse? You can have your own room.” I asked. She grumbled and nodded.

“I guess that’s the only way to find out if this can work or not.” She sighs, “What about Logan?” I loved how concerned she was for my son.

“He literally asks about you every single day.” I told her and her lips parted in shock.

“I don’t want to hurt him.” She responds in a quiet voice.

“You won’t.” I smoothed out her hair which I messed up by laying her back on the bed, tucking a strand that had fallen loose from her ponytail behind her ear.

“Okay, okay.” She mumbled. I wasn’t thrilled about her lack of enthusiasm, but I would take whatever i could get. “I guess it’s a plan then. I have to go back to Base to let them know and get my stuff.” She started to wiggle out from under me, but I held her down, pinning her arms against her body.

“What is that?” I released one of her arms and moved my hand to her face.

I tilted her head to the side and noticed her swollen lip, bruised jaw, and black eye for the first time. It was faded, like it was healing, and was on the right side of her face which had been clouded by the shadows in the room.

“Oh, it was just from sparring yesterday.” She shrugged, trying to sit up.

She growled when I wouldn’t let her, and shoved against my chest. I was shocked by her strength and stumbled out of the way. She stood up from the bed and glared at me,

“Don’t try to hold me down. Nobody can.” She said in a threatening tone.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to threaten you. I was just worried about your face.” I said, stepping towards her again.

“It’s nothing. It’ll be healed by tomorrow.” She shrugged.

“I don’t care when it’ll be healed. Who did this?” I was letting my anger slip out. Cain was forcing his way forward.

“This is what I’m talking about, Xaiver. I’m going to get a lot of injuries, I’m going to show up looking like this and worse. And there’s not a thing you can do about it. You can’t get pissed off, you can’t want revenge, you can’t ask me who did it.” She crossed her arms over her chest and glared at me.

I took a few deep breaths and shoved Cain back down.

“You’re wrong about one thing. I can get pissed off and I will, I will be worried and protective and possessive. But, you’re right about everything else. I can’t go for revenge and I can’t ask you who did it. I’m sorry.” I smiled softly at her and held out my hand, hoping she would take it.

She stared at my hand for a minute, like she was trying to gauge if it was a trap or not. Finally, she sighed and dropped her arms. She took my hand and stepped towards me.

“So, this is that compromising thing you were talking about, huh?” She asked in a quiet voice. I smirked,

“It is. What do you think?”

“I think that that’s going to get old real fast.” She narrowed her eyes at me and waved her hand around my face. I felt my eyes pinched together in confusion.

“What?”

“That ridiculous crooked smirk thing you do.” She tried to sound mad, but I could tell that she was just flustered.

I laughed loudly at her but refused to let her pull away. I tilted her chin up and kissed her swiftly.

“What? This?” I said in a husky voice, smirking at her again while our faces were just inches from each other. She fidgeted in my arms, but I could tell that she wasn’t trying too hard to get away,

“It’s impossible for me to stop, baby.” I purred and she froze, her eyes widening.